Lord Mayor Nick Reece’s draft budget focuses on bicycle lane enhancements, iconic walks, and traffic flow improvements

Lord Mayor Nick Reece is a man with a plan — and his draft budget for Melbourne outlines some gutsy plans for the city’s transport and infrastructure.

Melbourne stock images- Bike lane, Swanston St CBD. Wednesday, March 5. 2025. Picture: David Crosling

More bike lanes will be installed in Melbourne as the city’s Lord Mayor vows to improve traffic flow and boost pedestrian infrastructure in the upcoming budget.

A number of CBD streets have been flagged as options for new or upgraded bicycle lanes in the City of Melbourne’s 2025-26 Draft Budget, as more people ride or scoot for their daily commute.

Exhibition, Queens Bridge, Macaulay, Williams and Rathdowne Streets have all been named as potential sites.

Improving infrastructure for pedestrians is another key focus with five new Metro Tunnel stations bringing half a million more people into the city every week, as well as a new iconic Melbourne walk, improved traffic flow and reduced black spots.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece said fixing transport issues and increasing commuter productivity were a clear goal of the draft budget and part of his election promise

“So this budget is helping us target infrastructure upgrades where they’re needed most and guide future planning,” he said.

“It’ll also help put in place better transport management plans when new buildings are going up around the city. We will also fix bottlenecks and black spots across the city to improve traffic flow.

“I’m all about optimisation of our road network so we can move the most number of people about the city efficiently.

“This work will help drivers, riders and pedestrians providing more options and greater safety to the community in the city.”

Queens Bridge street has been earmarked for upgrades. Picture: Nicole Garmston

The added and improved bike infrastructure is set to come on the back of figures highlighting an increase in bike traffic into the city according to Mr Reece.

With Exhibition Street upgrades and plans to add an extra lane for cars at Queen Bridge Street intended to help with the influx of riders while improving traffic flow as well.

“Our data tells us that bike and scooter volumes entering the CBD at the top end of Exhibition Street now outnumber cars during morning peak hour,” he said. “So, we have seen significant change.

“So, the bike lanes are here to stay, but we are reconfiguring how the intersections and the laneways are positioned to make it easier for motorists to get into the city from the south to north.

“Queens Bridge Street is a major point of anxiety where you have a single lane for motor vehicles and a lot of space that is not being used.

“So by reconfiguring how the lanes are working there, we can continue to have protected bike lanes but also significantly improve motor vehicle flow.”

Before shots of the proposed Franklin St walkway up to the Queen Victoria Market. Picture: Supplied

Renders of the proposed Franklin St walkway up to the Queen Victoria Market. Picture: Supplied

The completion of the Metro Tunnel stations is also set to add a significant amount of foot traffic to the CBD, meaning making it a more pleasant experience for people to navigate the city is another priority.

The Lord Mayor claimed an “iconic walk” was set to be developed from one of the Metro Tunnel stations to a city icon.

“The new Metro stations are going to deliver an extra 500,000 people into the city each week, so we are investing in pedestrian links, particularly around the new stations,” he said.

“The new Franklin St pedestrian path will be an iconic walking route for people from the Library Metro Station to the Queen Victoria Market.”

The City is also looking to invest in updated traffic modelling software that will help “target infrastructure upgrades” and better predict traffic disruptions from potential works and modify parking and light signal times in highlight areas.

Originally published as Lord Mayor Nick Reece’s draft budget focuses on bicycle lane enhancements, iconic walks, and traffic flow improvements